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Vacation Bible school kids do projects in community

Leonard Hayhurst
Published 5:28 p.m. ET July 13, 2014

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Conner Roahrig, 16, helps Jillian Boylan, 12, throw away trash at Himebaugh Park in Coshocton. Coshocton First Baptist Church took fifth- and sixth-graders to clean up around Coshocton as a service project for vacation Bible school attendees.
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“I’m helping people and not asking for anything in return,” she said. “You don’t do it because you’re told to, but because you want to. I like helping other people, and it’s not like I have anything else to do. This is better than staying home and watching TV.”

Most vacation Bible schools take place inside churches with songs, games and Bible lessons. Coshocton First Baptist Church took 10 fifth- and sixth-graders outside the sanctuary recently for community service projects. Director Diane Williams said this was the first time they’ve incorporated volunteer work with the older kids.

“In vacation Bible school a lot of the time when they get to be that age, they start to lose interest in it,” she said. “We thought what could we do that wouldn’t be quite so childish for them.”

It’s also about getting the students out in the community so they learn to focus on the world at-large and not just what’s going on inside the walls of the church. The projects tie into biblical teachings as it gives the students hands-on experience in the servanthood.

“We want to see our kids out and about so they get the idea it’s not just about your Sunday morning crowd, it’s about everybody,” Williams said.

That sentiment resonates with Ginny Grier, 13. She’s from Ashtabula and is visiting family in Coshocton.

“Even though we’re out in the community helping people, I like how they tie it all to God,” she said. “Community work is important, because you need to show the community you care about it. Us kids are going to grow up and be the adults living in the community.”

In addition to cleaning Himebaugh Park, participants also cleaned yards and garages of church members, delivered boxed lunches to elderly church members, visited local nursing home residents and helped the Rev. Joe Sanders tidy up an old, unused ballroom in his home.

“Kids love helping people. I think it’s part of who they want to be,” Sanders said. “They can do that and apply it to what we’re learning in the Bible about loving and helping one another. As Christians, we make the connection that it’s just not something that happens in our hearts, but that we can take to other people.”